Following his sacking by the Edmonton Oilers, one notable hockey journalist believes Jay Woodcroft might be the next coach of the Ottawa Senators.
The Edmonton Oilers are on a four-game winning run, which is a season best. Despite still having a losing record at the time of writing, things appear to be turning around.
Kris Knoblauch has done a tremendous job as Oilers coach since taking over, going 6-3-0 in his first nine games. However, some fans and media remain reasonably concerned that the organization fired Jay Woodcroft too soon.
Yes, the squad had a terrible start to the season under Woodcroft, going 3-9-1 before he was fired. The club was underperforming, with particularly poor defensive play.
Woodcroft’s attempts to install a defensive zone strategy just did not work with the players. This played a big role in the team’s overall poor performance on the ice.
However, sacking the 47-year-old, who had undoubtedly the best winning percentage for a coach in team history, just didn’t feel right. Who had just led the Oilers to 50 regular-season wins for the first time since 1986-87, with the league’s highest-scoring squad.
Of course, this can be challenged by the fact that the Oilers appeared to be broken and, despite the players’ claims, that Woodcroft had lost the team. Regardless, he hadn’t suddenly turned into a horrible coach in the span of 13 games.
As a result, the vast majority of Oilers supporters wished the Toronto native well, hoping that he would be given another opportunity to coach in the NHL. That opportunity may now arrive sooner rather than later.
Consider the views of the Toronto Sun’s Steve Simmons in this regard. In his most recent Simmons Says column, he stated:
When he was with the Oilers, Steve Staios grew fond of coach Jay Woodcroft, who has since been sacked. If Staios and Senators owner Michael Andlauer decide a coaching change is required, don’t be surprised if Woodcroft is the decision to replace D.J. Smith.
Staios has a special bond with the Oilers, with whom he spent the majority of his 16 NHL seasons from 2001 to 2010. In October 2022, he returned to Edmonton as a special advisor to the club’s hockey operations personnel.
The 50-year-old only resigned his post as a special advisor after being offered the position of President of Hockey Operations with the Senators prior to this season. Unfortunately for everyone involved, things are not going as planned thus far.
The Senators entered the 2023-24 season as a dark horse playoff possibility, thanks in large part to a youthful and skilled core. However, at the time of writing, they have the fewest points in the Eastern Conference, despite having played at least two fewer games than everyone above them.
The fact that Pierre Dorion was relieved of his general manager duties at the beginning of November hasn’t helped matters. The move was done as a result of an invalidated Evgenii Dadonov deal, which resulted in the Senators foregoing a first-round draft pick in 2024, 2025, or 2026.
As a result, Staios has taken over as interim general manager while the organization searches for a permanent replacement for Dorion. However, with all of this going on, you have to wonder about Smith’s future as Senators coach.
Smith is in his seventh season as coach in Ottawa, and his team finished 39-35-8 last season. However, at the time of writing, he had an overall record of 129-149-32, had yet to qualify for the playoffs, and was not Staios’ choice.
This does not mean that the 46-year-old is about to be sacked. It’s still early, but the team had its finest season under him last season, coming within six points of a playoff spot.
However, as a result of that playoff run, expectations in Ottawa have risen, and they have only risen further following a good offseason. Smith is under intense pressure to deliver.
With this in mind, one has to wonder how long the leash will be before Staios thinks it’s time to cut it. Especially when he may have a ready-made replacement in the form of Woodcroft.
While there are no promises that Woodcroft will seek the job, his experience with Staios is a plus. He’s definitely no stranger to the pressure that comes with coaching in Canada in a hockey-crazed market — though maybe not as fierce in Ottawa — and knows what it takes to guide a team to the playoffs.
Furthermore, the opportunity to contribute to the advancement of a talented young team must be appealing. Overall, there are many reasons to feel Woodcroft would be a good fit in Ottawa, and if he does eventually receive the position, he will have plenty of supporters in Edmonton.
